Seven intertwined themes have emerged from my study: (1) Multiperspectival cultural studies, an interdisciplinary inquiry, helps explore contemporary Chinese urban youth culture from multiple perspectives. (2) Kellner’s diagnostic critique, an analytical method, helps explore historical backgrounds and complexity of cultural artifacts. (3) Alternative media creates space of empowerment for contemporary urban Chinese youth to express frustrations and dissatisfactions, to challenge social inequalities and injustices, and to create dreams and hopes for their future. (4) Recognizing intertexuality among cultural artifacts and subcultures creates possibilities for Chinese urban youth to invent more alternative media cultures that empower them to challenge dominations, perform their identities, and release their imagination for the future. (5) Using multilingualism in multiperspectival cultural studies prevents misunderstanding, misrepresentation, or underrepresentation of cultural texts and promotes linguistic and cultural diversity in a multicultural and multilingual world. (6) Chinese youth should be the change agent for the era but not be imprisoned by the era. (7) Understanding contradictions and trajectories of contemporary Chinese urban youth culture is the key to understanding contemporary Chinese youth.

As a contemporary Chinese urban youth and a multiperspectival cultural studies researcher, I argue that when serving as change agents for the era, contemporary Chinese urban youth need to obtain critical media literacy to become the change agent in contemporary China and to be the medium of cultural exchanges in the multicultural world. In order to best assist contemporary Chinese urban youth in expressing their voices, portraying their hopes, and performing their historical responsibilities as change agents, I sincerely hope more research will be done on the contemporary Chinese urban youth culture, especially its contradictions and trajectories, with the intent to shed light on more richly textured, nuanced, and satisfying insights into the relations between contemporary Chinese urban youth and media power in an increasingly multicultural and multilingual world.